BISMARCK, Mo. – Bismarck Police Chief Scott Lahay is being sued for the third time after shooting and killing a 21-year-old in 2023.

In December 2023, Bismarck police responded to a disturbance and shot and killed Kalob Watts. The Missouri State Highway Patrol investigated and found no wrongdoing. But now the matter is headed to civil court.

“In every corner of that house, there’s a memory. I can’t stand being there and I can’t stand being away,” Roberta Watts, Kalob’s mother, said.

More than a year ago, her son was shot and killed in their home that they had filled with memories together.

“He would walk by me 10-20 times a day. Tell me he love me, randomly,” she said. “I’ll never hear him say that again. I’ll never feel that again.”

Roberta says she and her son Kalob were at home that night. Kalob was in the middle of a mental health crisis.

“With all of his struggles, he still had a smile on his face. Always showing his love towards people. He wasn’t a bad kid,” Lyric Young, Kalob’s sister, said.

On the night of Dec. 26, 2023, dispatchers received a 911 call about a disturbance at the home.

According to the Bismarck Police Department’s report, the first officer to arrive was told Kalob had a weapon and worked to deescalate the situation. Katie Bennett, Watts’ next-door neighbor, recorded on her cell phone as additional officers arrived on scene. She noted the first officer’s response.

“She was calm. I couldn’t make out all the words, but the shouting stopped,” Bennett said. “I guess there was a gun involved in all of this.”

Less than 10 minutes later, Bismarck Police Chief Scott Lahay arrived at the scene. According to allegations contained in a lawsuit filed by Roberta Watts in November 2024, Lahay re-escalated the situation to a deadly end.

“It was 75 seconds that caused this boy to die,” attorney John Wilbers, managing partner of the Wilbers Law Firm, said.

Wilbers’ law firm is representing the Watts family. He says Chief Lahay was on scene for just over a minute before he opened fire. Kalob Watts was shot in the neck and died.

According to the Bismarck Police Department report, Chief Lahay stated he “instructed Officer (redacted) to go less lethal and transition to her taser.” FOX 2 redacted the other officer’s name since she is not accused of any wrongdoing. Lahay further stated that Kalob became aggressive and overpowered Roberta, who was holding on to Kalob at the time. Chief Lahay wrote, “Out of fear for the lives of Roberta, Officer (redacted) and myself of being shot by Kalob, I fired my duty pistol.”

The Missouri State Highway Patrol investigated and cleared Chief Lahay of any wrongdoing.

Roberta’s lawsuit alleges that Chief Lahay used excessive force, something Lahay denies. According to the police report, there was an audio recording from inside the home that night. Watts’ attorney says that recording tells the story.

“The tone, his manner of entry and of course the words that he used was an immediate reescalation of a mental health crisis that had been successfully deescalated by the initial officer,” Ambry Emanuel, Watts’ attorney, said.

This is not the first time that Lahay has been investigated in a deadly shooting while responding to a call. In 2020, prior to being the police chief, Officer Lahay shot and killed Dustin Eaton during a domestic disturbance at Eaton’s home in Bismarck.

The Eaton family provided FOX 2 with the Missouri State Highway Patrol investigation. It contained diagrams showing three bullet holes in Eaton’s closed front door. In that report, the highway patrol wrote that Lahay told them, “A male (Eaton) came to the door holding what he immediately recognized as the barrel of a rifle through the door’s window.” The officer-involved shooting took place shortly after that.

The MSHP also cleared Lahay from any wrongdoing in this case. The Eaton family never pursued civil action.

In 2005, while employed by the Ste. Genevieve County Sheriff’s Office, Deputy Lahay was present during the officer-involved shooting of Dennis Heberlie. Although Deputy Lahay did not fire his weapon during that incident, he was named as a co-defendant in a 2006 wrongful death lawsuit filed by the Heberlie family. According to the plaintiff’s petition, Heberlie was unarmed at the time of the shooting. Deputy Lahay and his co-defendant denied all wrongdoing and the case was settled for $600,000. Ultimately, Lahay was instructed to pay $50,000 of that settlement.

FOX 2 reached out multiple times to Chief Lahay and his attorney for this story. When we did not get a response, we went to the Bismarck Police station and spoke with Lahay in person. He declined to comment about the Watts, Eaton, and Heberlie cases. When asked about de-escalation training, Lahay said he completed the training that is mandated by the state.

The state does have rules that require continuing education on de-escalation techniques. In 2021, a new rule went into effect that requires one hour of de-escalation training every year.

Last week, a federal judge ordered the parties involved in the Watts lawsuit to meet for mediation. The deadline to complete that process is set for September.